Taxi Driver

: This book analyzes the roots of themes and characters in the films of Martin Scorsese. I focused on the analysis of Taxi Driver. The young Scorsese was angry with the church because its view on sex were not consistent with his experiences. In addition, Scorsese was also angry about women, which was very evident in his early films such as Raging Bull and Taxi Driver. The author compares Taxi Driver to other Scorsese films and points out their distinct similarities and analogous characters, such as Travis Bickle to Amsterdam Vallon from Gangs of New York. For Miliora, Taxi Driver’s main themes are about a man’s personal identity, psychology, and behavior having been conditioned by his roots or sense of place in the world. The author also discusses the juxtaposition of the two main female characters in Taxi Driver; Betsy and Iris. Miliora argues that Travis initially regards Betsy as angelic, a virgin, however, after she rejects him, he perceives her as dirty and impure, essentially a whore. On the contrary, Iris is the whore, whom Travis wants to be the savior of so she will become pure, or a virgin again. According to the author, another theme in Taxi Driver is the media’s depiction of heroes as Travis commits murder and yet is acclaimed as the hero at the end. Miliora provides a solid analysis of Scorsese’s movies, including Taxi Driver, and presents new and compelling ideas about the film. The book deals heavily with Scorsese’s portrayal of masculinity and his characters’ obsession with